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Over the last decades, researchers have found compelling evidence of hiring discrimination toward ethnic minorities based on field experiments using fictitious job applications. Despite increasing efforts to discover why ethnic minorities experience hiring penalties, the academic world has not yet found a satisfying answer. With this study, we aim to close this gap in the literature by conducting a state-of-the-art scenario experiment with genuine American recruiters. In the experiment, we ask recruiters to assess fictitious job applicants of various race-ethnicities but consistent social class. The applicants are rated on 22 statements related to the dominant explanations for ethnic discrimination in hiring that the models of taste-based and statistical discrimination have offered. We find that different race-ethnicity groups are evaluated rather similarly, except for Asian Americans, who are perceived to have better intellectual abilities and organizational skills and to be more ambitious, motivated, efficient, and open. These results suggest that the hiring discrimination found in previous experimental research might be overestimated because part of the reported hiring penalty may be attributed to aspects other than race-ethnicity.

In recent decades, researchers have found compelling evidence of discrimination in the labor and housing market toward ethnic minorities based on field experiments using fictitious applications. However, these findings may be exaggerated as the names used for ethnic minorities in various experiments may have also signaled low socioeconomic class. Therefore, in this study, we perform a name categorization experiment in the United States that yields 56 names associated with six ethnicity groups, which signal different ethnicities and genders but similar social classes. These names should greatly improve the validity of future experiments on ethnic discrimination.

This study is the first in the world to investigate the expected impact of the COVID-19 crisis on career outcomes and career aspirations. To this end, high-quality survey research with a relevant panel of Belgian employees was conducted. About 21% of them fear losing their jobs due to the crisis—14% are concerned that they will even lose their jobs in the near future. In addition, 26% expect to miss out on promotions that they would have received had the COVID-19 crisis not occurred. This fear of a negative impact is higher in vulnerable groups, such migrants. In addition, we observe that many panel members believe they will look at the labour market differently and will have different work-related priorities in the future. In this respect, more than half of the panel members indicate that they have attached more importance to working conditions and work-life balance since the COVID-19 crisis.

While a considerable number of employees across the globe are being forced to work from home due to the COVID-19 crisis, it is a guessing game as to how they are experiencing this current surge in telework. Therefore, we examined employee perceptions of telework on various life and career aspects, distinguishing between typical and extended telework during the COVID-19 crisis. To this end, we conducted a state-of-the-art web survey among Flemish employees. Notwithstanding this exceptional time of sudden, obligatory and high-intensity telework, our respondents mainly attribute positive characteristics to telework, such as increased efficiency and a lower risk of burnout. The results also suggest that the overwhelming majority of the surveyed employees believe that telework (85%) and digital conferencing (81%) are here to stay. In contrast, some fear that telework diminishes their promotion opportunities and weakens ties with their colleagues and employer.

Dit artikel is een aankondigingsartikel van twee nieuwe CORE organic projecten. Twee nieuwe Europese samenwerkingsprojecten gaan dit jaar van start: SUREVEG en GreenResilient. Beide projecten stellen een versterking van de agro-ecologische benadering binnen de biologische landbouw voorop, waarbij teelttechniek, bemesting en duurzaamheid onder de loep worden genomen.

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) is a vascular pathogen that invades the xylem of Brassica crops. Current chemical and antibiotics-based control measures for this bacterium are unsustainable and inefficient. After establishing a representative collection of Xcc strains, we isolated and characterized bacteriophages from two clades of phages to assess their potential in phage-based biocontrol. The most promising phages, FoX2 and FoX6, specifically recognize (lipo) polysaccharides, associated with the wxc gene cluster, on the surface of the bacterial cell wall. Next, we determined and optimized the applicability of FoX2 and FoX6 in an array of complementary bioassays, ranging from seed decontamination to irrigation- and spray-based applications. Here, an irrigation-based application showed promising results. In a final proof-of-concept, a CaCl2-formulated phage cocktail was shown to control the outbreak of Xcc in the open field. This comprehensive approach illustrates the potential of phage biocontrol of black rot disease in Brassica and serves as a reference for the broader implementation of phage biocontrol in integrated pest management strategies. The authors thank A. Volckaert for her input, Dr. L. van der Heijden (Bejo Zaden B.V.), Ms. K. Sereti (Rijk Zwaan Zaadteelt en zaadhandel B.V.) for providing seed material and Prof. L. Cruz for providing us with a wellcharacterized Xcc collection. They further thank Miss Y. Busschots for her technical assistance. This research was supported by the ‘Vlaams Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen’ (VLAIO) agriculture programme (LA) grant IWT.150914 and by the European Union’s Horizon H2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement N. 773567). DH holds a predoctoral scholarship from the ‘Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen’ (FWO) strategic basic research grant 1S02520N.